Do You Remember or Still Have That First Camera?

[Jerry Raia]

Here is the one that got me taking pictures back in 1969.

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/FirstCamera.jpg

The Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL was probably the first SLR with a spot and averaging light meter built in. You flipped a little switch next to the lens to switch between the two. I took that picture with the camera that replaced it. A Minolta SRT 102 which I still have! :)

[Bob12]

Not my first camera (an Imperial box camera -2.25x2.25), but I do still have my first SLR. It is an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic. It's the predecessor to the K1000 and was purchased in the Far East, hence the Brand Name "Asahi". It's US equivalents carried the Honeywell brand before the worldwide brand name became Pentax. The flash connector is broken but, since I use it on a telescope, that's not really an issue. Otherwise, it still works quite well.

[Mchilly]

Good to see that old camera of yours, antique wink!

[Jason Dunn]

Wow, cool! My parents had various cameras when I was growing up, but they were all compact point and shoot cameras, all entirely forgettable. The first camera I remember that was really mine was a 35mm Canon Rebel - I bought that for my college photography class. It was a fun camera! The Kodak DC265 was the first digital camera I purchased, and I've been 100% digital since then...

[djh]

My first camera was a Zenith E - straight from the Soviet Union, over 30 years ago. Totally manual and built like a T32 tank. I have no idea what happened to it. The Zeniths were still being made in the early 90's, I wouldn't be surprised if they were still in production now.

Recently we moved and I found my second ever camera, a Pentax ME Super SLR complete with 50 mm lens.

It's amazing how the old film cameras would work just as well after all these years, but we feel compelled to upgrade our digital kit so often.